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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26258956">Unexpected Guest</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverLynxx/pseuds/SilverLynxx'>SilverLynxx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Greatest Showman (2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banter, Domestic Fluff, Drunken Shenanigans, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Male Bonding, Short, Short &amp; Sweet, TGS Bingo, Unexpected Guest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:01:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26258956</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverLynxx/pseuds/SilverLynxx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Moving quickly so his unknown visitor wouldn’t disturb his neighbours with another rambunctious assault on his door, it’s with some surprise he opens it to find none other than Phillip on his doorstep.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>P. T. Barnum &amp; Phillip Carlyle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>TGS Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Unexpected Guest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A small fic with a modest dedication to Kev - a friend of a fantastic fellow fanfic writer - who made my whole week recently with some very lovely comments! Thank you for reading &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Reclining in his armchair in front of the fire, it's another quiet evening at home for Phineas, and it was becoming an all too familiar routine for his liking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Newspaper crinkling beneath his restless fingers, he struggles to keep his focus on the pages. It had been the same for several nights in a row, his attention tenuous and head lifting with every noise outside his window carried up from the street below. Trundling carriage wheels; the clopping of hooves; the occasional voice, loud and frivolous with drink, calling after another. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet it seems even the outside world is tranquil tonight, with no ruckus or quarrel or even a dog barking to provide some disruption to a peaceful evening.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas sighs, simply to disturb the quiet doldrum hanging heavy in the room, and finally gives up. Folding his paper and tossing it carelessly onto the coffee table, he sags back into his armchair and reaches for his mug. His nose wrinkles with a grimace when he discovers he’s let the contents grow cold, yet his disinclination for waste outweighs that of stale, frigid coffee, so he drains the mug in a few unpleasant gulps. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Replacing the empty cup on the table, Phineas wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and slumps further still into his armchair, looking around the room he’d already inspected in great detail. He craves distraction, entertainment, yet the uneventful evening has burdened his limbs with a cumbersome lassitude.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally submitting to his own boredom, Phineas pushes himself out of the chair and resigns himself to an early night, if only to usher tomorrow in faster. He’s just about to douse the fire when a vigorous knocking on his door catches him off guard. It takes a second round of knocking after a hesitant pause for Phineas to realise he wasn’t simply imagining the noise in a desperate bid for dissipation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Moving quickly so his unknown visitor wouldn’t disturb his neighbours with another rambunctious assault on his door, it’s with some surprise he opens it to find none other than Phillip on his doorstep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Propped gailly against Phineas’ door frame with his arm extended out in a flourishing gesture, he levels Phineas with a broad, spirited grin and a familiar tipsy glint to his eye. With his bowtie draped unknotted around his neck and top hat askew atop his head, he paints quite the picture of the charming, roguish bachelor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas returns the grin with a slow, knowing smile, more amused than he probably should be by his business partner showing up at his door in such a fashion, on a work night, no less.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, Mr. Carlyle, to what do I owe this unannounced visit?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phillip snorts. “Cut the crap Phineas, you’re always happy to see me,” he responds with an easy confidence, and Phineas’ eyes crinkle at the liquor-loosed indelicacy and glimpse of the once notoriously cavalier reputation peeking through. Regardless, he doesn’t budge from the doorway and raises a brow at Phillip until the younger man shrugs his shoulders and averts his gaze with what Phineas assumes is meant to be a nonchalant tilt of his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was having a few drinks with the guys from the circus, y’know, job well done and all, and figured I’d stop by, since you’re on the way home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas responds with a thoughtful hum, noting that while it wasn’t an </span>
  <em>
    <span>incorrect</span>
  </em>
  <span> observation, Phineas personally wouldn’t call a two block diversion ‘on the way’. But he certainly wasn’t going to usher away such enjoyable company, so Phineas stands by and gestures Phillip inside, closing the door behind him and making his way to the drinks cabinet as Phillip deposits his hat on the coffee table and drops down onto the couch.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, it was a good show then?” Phineas asks as he retrieves their tumblers from the glass-panelled cupboard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A </span>
  <em>
    <span>brilliant</span>
  </em>
  <span> show,” Phillip enthuses. “Everyone was just so... in the moment. They were incredible, I can’t explain it. But the crowd loved it. A ten minute ovation, Phineas. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ten minutes.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He ends with a gusty exhale, as if he still hasn’t quite processed the experience even after several hours of celebration and drinking, but his grin is thrilled beyond measure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas regards the young man fondly as he places the glasses on the table, already generously topped up with amber drink. Phillip makes an amused noise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Breaking out the crystal tumblers? Now it really </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> a celebration.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Well it’s not everyday a ringleader becomes a ringmaster, now, is it?” Phineas returns jovially, settling back into his armchair. “It’s just unfortunate I wasn’t there to witness it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The praise seems to swell inside Phillip, and he takes his glass with a warmly uttered: “You know you’re always welcome to visit, even on your days off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas fingers his own glass thoughtfully. “You know, I just might,” he replies, raising his glass. Phillip mimics the action in a playful salute. “To your every success, those past and yet to come,” Phineas toasts. “And to fine and unexpected company.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With matching grins, they down their shots in one. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>They nurse their second round of drinks over the course of a comfortable hour of conversation, by which point Phillip has discarded his shoes and stretched out on the couch in socked feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s strange thinking back sometimes. The circus reminds me of the theatre in so many ways, but they’re like two completely different worlds. Even after three years I still get overwhelmed. When I look at the troupe, the ring, the stands full of so many </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy</span>
  </em>
  <span> people, it’s like realising for the first time all over again that this is really my life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas preens, pleased by the wonderment that is still as fresh and genuine as the day he’d first brought Phillip to the circus. “I have an eye for potential,” he boasts, before making a dismissive gesture with his hand as he takes another sip from his drink. “You were wasted in the theatre.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phillip tilts his head with a sound telling of his wavering agreement. “I think I just wasn’t suited for the theatre. They wanted virtue, not sincerity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas scoffs before he can stop himself. “Well I certainly won’t disagree with you. What were the last words you put any sincerity into, honestly?” he challenges, crossing one knee over the other as he regards Phillip with a teasing grin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He expects Phillip to laugh, perhaps recite a superfluous monologue preaching chastity and virtue with perfect diction just to prove he can. So when he’s instead met with a deep and thoughtful silence, it surprises him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lying quietly on the couch, Phillip stares up at the ceiling with a distant look to his eye, but Phineas doesn’t believe it’s the typical alcoholic glaze. He watches the younger’s thumb rub absently along the rim of his glass, leaving an impression on the skin, and Phineas shifts in his seat, about to tentatively voice his partner’s name when Phillip finally answers him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Our love is a ballad penned by fate, my heart, and played through the ages everlasting. But our souls, a duet of timid and hopeful affinity, were never to be united in harmony…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes Phineas a moment to process the unprecedented response, mouth closing in the wake of his absent thoughts. He lets the impactful lines of a sweet tragedy settle in his mind as a thousand stories of tender sorrows come and go, and not once does he take his eyes off Phillip who watches him with careful insouciance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s beautiful,” Phineas says, quiet and honest, and a minutiae of tension immediately loosens in Phillip’s shoulders. His lips quirk slightly at the corners.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did genuinely try to write interesting plays at one time, you know. How else was I to atone for making audiences sit and listen to someone speak for two hours?” He asks with a mischievous glint to his eye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas chuckles. “Ah, Charity let that little comment slip, I see,” he returns, and now it’s Phillip’s turn to laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“About a week after I joined the circus,” he admits, and Phineas barks out a laugh. Phillip’s own laughter is interrupted by a sudden wide yawn which he tries to stifle with a muffled apology. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not quite able to handle your celebrations like you used to, eh?” Phineas smirks. Phillip grumbles what he’s sure is a rather colour obscenity into his palm as he rubs his face, looking suddenly bone-weary as he swings his feet onto the floor with another yawn. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shoul’ get home,” he mutters, but Phineas moves quicker. Already on his feet, Phineas give’s Phillip’s shoulder a light shove as he passes and the man topples back down with little resistance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I‘m not that drunk!” he protests as Phineas lifts his feet up onto the cushions so he’s fully sprawled across the couch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Drunk, no. Stubborn? Yes,” Phineas teases as he steps out of the room. Phillip grumbles quietly as he pushes himself upright again with his aforementioned stubbornness, but fails to get far when a folded blanket hits him squarely in the face, taking him back down to the couch.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Phineas.”</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s sure Phillip intends to sound rightly furious, but the whine in his voice is too distinct for Phineas to feel anything other than delight. He’s already setting aside time to perfect that petulant tone to better pester his partner come morning, who would no doubt be nursing a spectacular hangover.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a chuckle, Phineas strides over to the sofa to remove the blanket and gives it a brief shake. Once fully unraveled, he drapes it back over his sulking partner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Appreciate my thoughtfulness while you have it, because there won’t be any sympathy from me tomorrow,” he says cheerily. “You know the rules about drinking on a work night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phillip squirms beneath the blanket, dragging a cushion under his head with a muffled ‘fuck off’.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Phineas huffs goodnaturedly, and affectionately squeezes the younger’s shoulder through the blanket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight, Phil.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“G’night PT. Thanks f’r lettin’ me stay,” Phillip mumbles back, a yawn drawing out the end of his sentence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re always welcome here,” Phineas tells him, but after a moment’s silence, he’s met by a quiet snore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Smiling and shaking his head, Phineas douses the lights and makes his way to bed.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Biiiig thank you to Eve (for her endless encouragement and lovely comments), and taka for proofreading and whipping these fics into shape \o/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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